Cero Requiem
by blunkraft96
Summary: "This seems too good to be true, what's the catch?" Naruto asked incredulously. He could feel the Hogyouku's grin on its face, You must be willing to give up somethings."Like what?" The Hogyoku's grin, grew wider. Everything….


"This is becoming a nightmare!" One of the Elder advisors of the Uzumaki clan shouted in the council chamber. "That…boy…is ruining this clan's reputation!" There were whispers amongst the gathered group about that statement.

"Fifteen times, fifteen times we've had to request ANBU protection for that failure in the last month," another replied. "We're losing face while the Uchiha and Hyuuga continue to gain power. At this rate we'll end up like the Kurama clan, a weak minor clan no longer on the council group. We need to do something about this situation now."

"The boy shows no talent in any of the clan techniques" another voice spoke, "Not only that but he doesn't even have our bloodline in his body. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even have chakra in his body at all other than the demonic one sealed away. He doesn't have any trace of _our _chakra. Someone like him isn't need in our clan. We have strived to reach the same level as the Senju and Uchiha clan. Before he came along, we were always compared to them as equals. But now we're losing that power. That boy is cancer to our reputation. Keep him around too long and it'll affect us on a high scale." The group once again whispered to one another about the situation.

"We should distance the clan from that failure" stated the second voice, "With the new contract offered to us by the Fire Lord himself, the boy's presence would only be a hindrance. Even now, he disrupts the training of his twin sister, who is turning out to be a genuine prodigy for the clan. Kasumi-chan may not be in the direct line for clan succession, but she's certainly going to be a prize jewel for us in a few years."

The trio of elders nodded, and then turned to stare at the red haired woman kneeling before them. Once, this woman was the prize of the Uzumaki clan. A jounin of remarkable skill, second only to the Densetsu no Sannin, Sandaime Hokage, Hatake Sakumo, and her own deceased husband Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina had in recent years turned cold and almost unfeeling. She rarely spoke to the council, or to any other clan members, unless it was absolutely necessary. Even her two children, the aforementioned Kasumi and the boy –Naruto– received little attention from her.

"Kushina-sama," the head elder spoke, "You know that the Fire Lord has requested our entire clan move to the capital city of Fire country, Hinokakugin (Fire Pavilion). This move gives the clan a great opportunity to reclaim some of the honor your son has cost us…perhaps even gain greater renown as his highnesses' body guards. However…"

"You needn't ask me what you are about to, Kosuke-san," the cold woman replied, "You wish me to leave my son here in the village while the rest of us travel to the city."

"Yes, that is correct," the old man replied, "Do you have a problem with it?" He eyed her carefully and waited for her response. He would read her body language if she showed it this time. Lately reading Kushina had been extremely hard. It was like staring at a brick wall. Maybe she would subconsciously show some type of emotion now.

Kushina felt a tug at her soul, even as she voiced her answer. She looked at the elders with eyes of cold blue ice not showing any signs of remorse.

"No," she replied, "I will do what is best for the clan. We will leave immediately before our reputation is dragged into the mud any further. I hope everyone has packed their belongings because we're not waiting for anyone." The Elder advisors smiled at her decision. It would seem that Kushina had proven that she was more than capable of being a clan head after all. The needs of a clan come before the needs of one person. The group made their way to wagons waiting outside their compound.

"Kaachan?" a small voice whispered catching Kushina by surprise even though she didn't show it. She turned to face the voice with cold uncaring eyes on the small child that called her. The boy was 5 years old with blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin matching her complexion. Beside the small child was an elder man with grey hair, several wrinkles and very few liver-spots. He wore the Hokage's gear which consist of the customary hat and cloak, which he wore over a red, full-length gown that was tied using a white sash. This was Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha and ruling Hokage after the Yondaime died sealing Kyuubi away at the cost of his life. Currently he was looking at Kushina with pleading eyes.

"Kushina-san, I beg you once again to stay this madness!" Hiruzen's voice carried both anger and pleading. "This is your son, by the Kami! To abandon him this way…" He didn't want to think about the damage that could occur to the boy mentally. Kushina's cold eyes remained the same as did her unreadable body language.

"It is the will of the clan, Sandaime-sama," she replied, "I will do what is in the best interests of my clan. If leaving the boy is the best thing for the clan then I will do so as clan head. As a matter of fact, we officially disown him from now on. He will no longer be permitted to carry the name Uzumaki."

"Kaachan?" the small boy whimpered again, even as his big sister gave him a look of pity mixed with longing, "Was…was I bad? Did…did I…do something wrong?"

Kushina ignored the boy's questions, though she again felt the strange pull at her heart she had felt a week prior when the decision had been made. "We are the last one's here aside from Arashi-san," she replied, "He'll stand proxy for the Uzumaki clan on all civilian and shinobi matters. Katsumi and I must depart now."

"Kushina-san…"

"Goodbye, Sandaime-sama," the woman finished, before walking away. She climbed into the wagon with her daughter, and the driver lashed the horses, getting them moving.

The blond boy stared at the wagon as it moved away from his home. His heart crumbled at the thought of being left. Without realizing it, his legs began taking him to the moving wagon. He forced himself to run as fast as he could and ignored the burning feeling he was experiencing right now. The wagon continued to move forward, even as he began to shout his pleas. "KAACHAN….DON'T LEAVE ME!" He continued running until he was at the gates of Konoha. It was there he tripped over his feet causing him to fall. He didn't acknowledge the fact that he scraped some skin. The only thing that mattered was the wagon.

"KAACHAN"

As he was about to make another attempt to run after the wagon he felt someone's hand on his shoulders. Naruto turned around and slammed his face into the robes of the Hokage and cried. Hiruzen embraced the young boy giving the boy emotional support.

"Oji-chan, why did Kaachan and Onee-sama leave me? Did I do something bad?" the boy whispered.

"No Naruto-kun, you were a good boy." Sarutobi Hiruzen replied, patting the boy's back in an effort soothe his fractured heart, "You are truly special. Your Kaachan and Onee-san will see that someday." The boy continued to cry his soul out into the white robes of the old man.

"If…if I…if I become a good ninja," the boy sobbed, "Will…will that…make them love me?"

Sarutobi frowned over Naruto's head, even as he began to think of something to say. He wanted to cheer the boy up so he quickly thought on his feet and lied. Besides it was Minato's dream for Naruto to become a shinobi of Konoha so why not. He had Kyuubi's chakra to use so why not have Jiraiya teach him. If the boy could utilize Kyuubi's chakra then he could very well become a shinobi of Konoha. "I think…many will come to love you if you become a good shinobi, Naruto-kun. Just become the strongest shinobi ever and many people will respect you. As a matter of fact, why don't you train to become stronger than me so you could save me from a Kage's most deadly enemy? I would be happy if you save me from the evil monster I fight every day." Hiruzen by now was thinking about his paper work.

"B-but Jiji, no one else is stronger than you." Hiruzen shook his head at that. He sighed in relief that he managed to stop him from crying. The last thing he wanted was an emotional case on his hand that could possible lead to suicide. He had seen it happen several times for different reasons including the loss of parents through death or in Naruto's case abandonment. If Naruto died now then he wouldn't be able to become a shinobi. He promised Minato that he would try to get Naruto to become a shinobi before his death and that's what he would do.

"That's not true young Naruto. There are several others that are as strong if not stronger than me. I know one person or entity that could easily defeat me. He is the most powerful and most respected person." By now he had Naruto's full attention.

"Really, who is he?" Hiruzen smiled a little as he ruffled the boy's hair.

"Kami" was the simple answer. "No one could beat him other than another God. With the amount of power he has, he could do anything he wants. Almost everyone respects him as do I." Hiruzen continued ranting about Kami and Naruto listened to every word. His young mind soon began thinking about the possibilities of him and this power. As soon as Hiruzen was finished, Naruto's mind had formed a goal that he would strive for.

'One day I will become god and everyone will respect me. Anyone who tries to harm me will be sent to the bad place. I'll be able to punish all the bad people in my life and save jiji from the evil monster he's fighting. I will become a god.' Determination shone through is eyes which went unnoticed by Hiruzen. As soon as he finished that train of thought, he felt a strange pull on him. His head snapped in the direction it came from. He stared in the direction for what seemed like eternity.

"Naruto are you okay?" Naruto was brought from his thoughts by the concerned Hokage. He wiped his tears away and nods his head.

"Hai jiji"

"Good now let's get some ramen shall we." Naruto pumped his fist in the air when ramen was mentioned. Hiruzen couldn't help but smile at how fast the boy forgot about his abandonment of his family and clan. Hiruzen grabbed him by the hand and led him towards Ichiraku ramen for ramen.

TimeSkip: 2 Years Later

His attempts at becoming a shinobi had all been for naught, as with no chakra everything became harder. He began to walk back to his apartment when he tripped over a root and fell down, in panic he saw a hole open up in the earth and he fell forward right into it.

"Uggh" Naruto groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and sat up. "What happened?" he asked. It was then that he noticed that he was in a cave and that there was a blue-violet glow coming from a pedestal in the center of the cave. Naruto cautiously approached the pedestal and saw that the glow was coming from a small orb. "What is that?" he asked to himself. **"I am the Hōgyoku, child" **"The Hōgyoku?""**Yes now tell me do you desire power," **it asked, **"You are the second person to find me here, I have been here for the past five thousand years and even then that one wasn't worthy of wielding me, so tell me, do you desire power, Enough power to become a god?" **The Hōgyoku asked

'The Power to become a god? With that power...I could…..show Kushina-sama the error of her ways…..I can….I could change the world!" he thought "You could give me this power?" he asked. **"IT would take time, but yes, I can make you a god."** "Very well, what do I have to do?" Naruto asked. **"Simply pick me up and swallow me."**"

"This seems too good to be true, what's the catch?" Naruto asked incredulously.

He could feel the Hogyouku's grin on its face, **You must be willing to give up somethings.**

"Like what?" The Hogyoku's grin, grew wider.

**Everything**….

Could he go through with this? Could he really give up everything for power? Was being a god that worth it? That he would sacrifice everything for? He was about to say no, when he saw in his mind, his mother's cold eyes.

Without hesitation, Naruto swallowed the pill, and fell into the blackness that was the pain he was feeling right now.


End file.
